The Creative Mindset: 5 Excuses to Avoid if You Want to Be Creative

Hey creative friend,

My exhibit – “Drawn with Threads” ended just last Saturday.  It showed extremely well and I’m so happy with how it turned out. Being in the library twice a week was a great opportunity for me to hear from a ton of people.  And what I want to tell you right now is, if you want to be creative you’ve got to avoid certain mindsets. So, we’re going to talk about what a true creative mindset is not.

Today, I just need to give you some tough love. Because I’ve heard from so many people these past four weeks and the pattern is the same over and over again.

The pattern is like this. After admiring my work, the interview to validate why they couldn’t possibly create the kind of work I do begins.  You know, that quest to find excuses? Yes!! That’s what I’m talking about. We’ve all done it before – myself included.

The interview questions are usually one of these:

The Creative Mindset: 5 Excuses We Make

1. You must have gone to art school, right? 
2. You own an expensive or computerized sewing machine, huh?
3. Was your mother/grandmother a quilter?
4. Did you start drawing when you were a child?
5. You certainly knew how to draw before you started working in textiles, huh?

Well for the record, the answer to each and every one of these questions is a big NO!!!

But I recognize the sentiment behind these questions. “NO” is not the answer you want to hear when asking these questions. Because what you truly want to hear is that I have something you do not have that accounts for why I’m creative and you’re not.

All I want to say is, Enough with the excuses”.

We’ve allowed ourselves to believe this myth that some people are creative while we are not. And to make our beliefs valid, we keep searching for excuses why we can’t create just like “the creative people”.

So, to be clear, the real intentions behind the interview questions I kept getting at my exhibition were these: I can’t do what you do because:

The Creative Mindset: What the Excuses Really Mean

1. You went to art (a fancy) school and I didn’t
2. You have a superior sewing machine (or tool) than I do
3. Your family has the creative gene and mine doesn’t
4. You were born creative and I wasn’t
5. You started young and I’m too old to learn

Enough with the excuses already. I’m living proof that you can be creative without checking any of these boxes. I get so passionate when I see people trying so hard to make themselves believe they cannot be creative. I can’t say this enough – you are creative. SIMPLE.

We’ve all got creative potential. The difference between the one who seems to be creative and the one who isn’t – is simple. One chose to explore what they ‘ve got and the other decided what they’ve got was not good enough.

You are enough.  You are worth the time and effort you need for developing yourself. Creativity is a skill you can develop. If you can learn to read and write, then you can learn to be creative.

Creative friend, it doesn’t take much.  You don’t need fancy tools and training from fancy schools.  You’ve got what you need to start.  You’ll only discover what you really need to get better at when you take that first step and start.

These 5 excuses will hold you back from becoming your creative best. Avoid them all. So, enough with the excuses. Get into the right creative mindset. You don’t need to check off boxes before you become creative.

Take that step now. It’s never too late. Start small.
Love you.